


Have Your Elf a Merry Little Christmas

by Shadowcrawler



Category: Terminator (Movies)
Genre: Christmas, F/F, Femslash, Fluff, Inspired by Hallmark Christmas Movies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 13:28:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21970096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowcrawler/pseuds/Shadowcrawler
Summary: Grace is the new mall Santa to Dani's elf. What will they do when an evil corporation threatens the spirit of Christmas?
Relationships: Dani Ramos & Diego Ramos, Grace/Dani Ramos
Comments: 6
Kudos: 49





	Have Your Elf a Merry Little Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> I meant for this to be done by Christmas, but here we are. ‾\\_(ツ)_/‾ it should be all up by the end of December, hopefully? we'll see! 
> 
> Shoutout to [Julia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/oneworldaway/pseuds/oneworldaway) for constantly texting with me about DaniGraceSarah and egging me on. If all goes according to plan, this won't be the last of me you see in this tag, lol.

“So what do you think our new Santa will be like?” Diego asks as they walk. “I hope he’s not one of those guys who are just doing it for the money.”

Dani shrugs. “If he is just doing it for the money, then he’s in for a terrible surprise when he gets his first paycheck.”

Diego laughs. “Good point.” He taps her on the arm playfully. “You know, Papi would be happy we’re still doing this.”

“I know.” Dani sighs and gives him a shaky smile. “I just miss him.”

“Me too. But who will they get to be elves, if not us?” Diego shoots her a huge grin. “Sarah would never sing. And if she did, she would not sound as good as we do, you know that.”

“As good as _you_ do,” Dani corrects with a laugh. “I’m happy to just be your backup.”

Their bus stop is only about a block from the mall, so soon enough they’re heading inside and toward the management office, where they pick up their elf costumes. Sarah Connor, security guard and reluctant Mrs. Claus, is waiting for them. “Hey,” she grunts. “New girl’s inside already.”

“Girl?” Diego blinks. “For Santa?”

Sarah narrows her eyes at him. “Take it up with the boss, I don’t know.”

Diego grins over at Dani. “Maybe _she_ will be impressed with my singing.”

Dani rolls her eyes fondly. “I’m sure she will be.”

Inside, a tall blonde woman is sitting in a chair she only sort of fits in, looking awkward. Carl, who both owns the mall and is basically in charge of them now that Vincente is gone, looks up at them and nods a greeting. “Dani, Diego,” he says. “Meet our new Santa. This is Grace.”

Grace gives them a quick wave, looking embarrassed. Diego grins and offers his hand. “Hi,” he says, immediately turning on the charm. “I’m Diego. You look like your name suits you.”

Grace lets out a startled laugh and shakes his hand quickly. “Thanks? I hadn’t thought about it, I guess it does.”

“I’m sorry for my brother,” Dani says, offering her own hand. “He talks too much and he thinks pretty girls like that.”

Grace runs a hand through her short blonde hair and then shakes Dani’s hand, looking sheepish. “I mean, I’m not very good at, uh, talking, so. Dani, right?” She looks into Dani’s eyes for a second before her gaze darts away. “Carl told me about your dad, I’m really sorry.”

Dani forgets to answer for a second, because Grace has beautiful eyes. _Like the sea after a storm,_ she thinks, a line from a movie Diego loves. Then she composes herself and says, “Thank you,” scolding herself for the thought. She’d only just met this woman, and here she was thinking about her eyes. There wasn’t time for that, they had work to do. “Diego, we’d better go get into our costumes. We’ll see you out there?” She smiles at Grace.

Grace returns it, though it’s small and shy. “Yeah, I’ll be, uh, in the big red suit.” 

“Nice to meet you, Grace,” Diego says, waving as Dani tugs him back towards the coat closet they keep the costumes in. 

“She’s cute,” he says as he glues on the pointy elf ears.

Dani rolls her eyes fondly. “Please don’t make things weird with our new coworker. After Christmas maybe, you can flirt with her.”

“You don’t think she’s cute?” His eyes gleam with mischief. “I thought you liked tall girls.”

“I never said I didn’t like tall girls, but we’re here to work.” Dani tosses him his silly green elf hat. “C’mon, it’s showtime.”

Ever since she and Diego were teenagers, they’ve been the elves to their father’s Santa on weekends in December. Vincente Ramos had been a warm-hearted man, and he’d been one of the local mall’s Santas for Dani’s whole life. Even now, when she closes her eyes and pictures Santa, all she can see is her father’s smiling face, almost completely covered by a terrible fake white beard. Diego’s been happy to help since he realized that not only can he show off his voice (which, Dani admits, is beautiful), but that sometimes the children seeing Santa are accompanied by cute girls who are easily charmed by a friendly elf. 

Dani’s job, besides singing backup to Diego’s cheerful medley of carols in both English and Spanish, is to man the donations booth. Vincente had had the idea early on: have a booth set up for people to donate toys or cash for struggling families during the holidays. They’ve never charged to take photos with Santa, but most parents seem happy to either dig through their purse for spare change or return a few days later with a toy to donate. 

Sarah is the fourth member of their group, hired a few years ago. Carl had introduced her in his typical blunt way: “I have decided that we need a Mrs. Claus. This is Sarah Connor. She is an ex-convict and needs work, so I have decided she will be a good fit here.” Sarah might be prickly, but she’s surprisingly good with the kids. She and Dani have something of an understanding. 

And now, Papi is gone and there’s Grace.

While they’re doing their performance, Dani can’t help but glance back behind the “workshop,” where Grace is putting her beard on. Or, she’s supposed to be. Dani keeps accidentally catching her eye, because - is Grace watching her? Every time they lock eyes, Grace looks away so quickly that Dani tells herself it was just a coincidence. 

Finally, Grace and Sarah go out and sit down on their chairs, beckoning the first kid forward. Dani sits at the donation booth and chats with his mother, Marianella Mancha. She was a few years ahead of Dani in school and loves bragging about her brilliant son Victor. Dani’s happy to listen, though every so often she finds her gaze wandering to Grace. Every now and then Grace glances over and, while the fake beard obscures most of her mouth, Dani can see the smile in her eyes. She can’t help but smile back. 

Diego, because he’s her brother, notices this, and once while Grace is listening to a particularly loud kid recite his obviously memorized list, he leans over and whispers, “You think she’s _cuuuuute_.” Dani rolls her eyes and doesn’t respond, which just makes him grin wider.

It’s a long line of kids, but eventually it’s lunchtime. Diego calls, “Okay, it’s time for Santa to feed his reindeer, but don’t worry, he’ll be back at one!” A few kids whine in disappointment, but their parents are nodding and they start herding them toward the food court or other stores. 

They’re hanging up their costumes in the storage closet when Grace comes in, looking embarrassed. “Can you, uh, help me with this stupid belt?” she asks, gesturing to it. “I can’t get the buckle undone for some reason.” She didn’t specify who she wanted help from, but she glances at Dani shyly and then away again. 

“It’s difficult,” Dani agrees, thinking of how her father used to complain about it. “Here.” She goes over to Grace and starts to fiddle with the belt, ignoring the stifled bark of laughter from Diego. 

Grace chuckles. “Thanks. You guys were really good out there.”

Dani shrugs modestly. “Diego’s the singer. I just started this to help him and Papi out. And I like making kids happy, I like seeing them smile. And I’m good with the parents, I suppose.”

“You are,” Grace agrees. “I mean, I don’t really know what I’m doing with the kids, but they’re cute. I haven’t worked with kids much before.”

“Really?” Diego asks, before Dani can express her own surprise. “You’re great with them.”

“Oh, I’m just doing my best.”

“So where do you live?” Dani asks, finally worrying the hook in the belt out of the hole. “I haven’t seen you around much.”

“We’d remember,” Diego chimes in. Dani throws him a quick glare over her shoulder.

“Oh, I just moved here. I, uh, finished college last year and then my ex decided she wasn’t as into the idea of moving in together as she used to be.” Grace shrugs. “So I packed up and came out here, ‘cause I had a friend who said she might have a job for me. Which kinda turned out to be a bust, so now I’m doing this.” She grins and adds, “Not that I’m complaining. This is pretty fun, actually.”

Dani frowns. “I’m sorry about your ex.” She tries to ignore that the ex is a “she,” and what that might mean.

“It’s okay,” Grace says, even though it clearly isn’t entirely. “Uh, where do you guys have lunch?”

“Come with us!” Diego says, before Dani can say anything. “Dani usually packs our lunches but we can stop by the food court if you didn’t bring anything.”

Grace looks relieved. “Thanks.” 

They end up squished at one of the smaller tables, because the food court is busy as always. “Sorry,” Dani says when Grace comes back with a burger after ten minutes of waiting. “I should have warned you, all of the restaurants are pretty crazy this time of year.”

Grace bolts down half her burger before answering, “Yeah, but I don’t have a sister to pack my lunch, so,” with a playful grin. 

That makes Dani laugh. “You can’t cook?”  
  
  


“I can make stuff out of boxes, and sandwiches, I just didn’t have time last night.” Grace is looking kind of longingly at their tamales. 

“I could bring in some of these for you tomorrow,” Dani teases, indicating her food. “I wouldn’t want you to go hungry.” 

Grace immediately looks embarrassed. “Oh, I wouldn’t want you to...I’ve just always had a big appetite, I’ll be okay.”

“Don’t say no,” Diego says. “First of all, my sister is the best cook in the whole state, and second, she likes helping people and she’s very annoying when she wants something. She’ll bring them even if you say no.”

“I will not!” Dani sticks out her tongue at him. “I’m not pushy. I just...don’t want you to go hungry, that’s all.”

Grace shakes her head. “I guess my dad always said never turn down free food. But I’d feel horrible if I didn’t offer something in return. Um, I have a lot of practical skills, I’ve done some basic plumbing work before. I could help you move stuff if you need that, I’m really strong. I’m good at following directions if you want me to help out with something else?”

“Grace, stop, it’s okay!” Dani’s laughing again. “You don’t have to do anything for me.”

“Although,” Diego adds, “our sink makes weird noises sometimes.” Dani turns to glare at him and he puts his hands up defensively. “Well, it _does!_ And you know what plumbers cost; that’s why Papi never called anybody about it.”

“I’ve worked on sinks before,” Grace says, beaming. “I can take a look, if you want.”

Dani sighs and smiles. “Since it seems my brother isn’t going to leave it alone unless I ask you to come over, then sure, you can come look at it. Maybe on Monday night? I can make dinner too.”

“Oh, you don’t have to-” Grace cuts herself off and then says, “No, actually, that sounds great. Here, let me give you my number and stuff.” 

Dani tries to ignore the weird fluttering thing her heart is doing.


End file.
